Mayoyao town creates its local housing board

By Dan B. Codamon

MAYOYAO, Ifugao -- This municipality recently created its local housing board called Mayoyao Municipal Housing Board to provide rural poor communities, people’s organizations and non-government organizations more direct participation in planning and implementation of local housing programs.

This is in consonance with Republic Act No. 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 spelling out local government units as its implementing entity for socialized housing.

The MMHB is composed of the municipal mayor as chairman, the vice mayor as vice chairman and the chairperson of the Sangguniang Bayan committee on housing development, municipal planning and development office, municipal engineer, municipal assessor and a representative from the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, and private or business sector as members.

The board is tasked to advise the municipal mayor on matters of sourcing funds for socialized housing on schemes such as build-operate-transfer, bond floatation and other credit financing arrangements, availment of foreign or local grants for which the board is authorized to receive, loan packages from government financing or lending institutions, joint venture projects with private sector or developers and pooling of resources with other LGUs, the private sector and non government organizations.

It is also tasked to oversee the implementation of Section 28 of RA 7279 for eviction and demolition provided that just and humane eviction and demolition procedures are made in the rural areas and shall oversee and coordinate government activities relative to consultation, relocation and resettlement of underprivileged and homeless rural poor dwellers in cases when evictions and demolitions affecting them are necessary and allowed by existing laws.

The municipal government has appropriated one percent of its annual internal revenue allotment for the operations and activities of the MMHB. – PIA